Vice President, Finance: Philadelphia Education Fund

PEF’s mission is to drive exceptional outcomes for all students by developing great teachers and building paths to college and career success. Founded in 1985, today PEF is the city’s most comprehensive, full-service education organization, working tirelessly to expand and improve educational opportunities available to local youth. PEF envisions a Philadelphia where all young people have the skills, knowledge, opportunity, and access to the resources they need to succeed in college and careers.

A key aspect of PEF’s work is ensuring that every high school student in Philadelphia is supported in understanding and pursuing their options for a postsecondary academic journey, anchored in college and supported through workplace and career exposure. To support in this effort, PEF operates a diverse portfolio of offerings targeting students (College Access Program, PhillyGoes2College, Spark Philadelphia, Philadelphia Scholars Last Dollar Scholarship, Fostering College Readiness), teachers (McKinney Center for STEM Education, the Philadelphia Postsecondary Success Program), and the community (Education First Compact, Philadelphia STEM Ecosystem).  In 2017, PEF launched an education consulting practice that supports schools and nonprofits deepen student college and STEM related outcomes.

The Vice President of Finance is responsible for the strategic leadership of the finance functions of the Philadelphia Education Fund (PEF), including but not limited to financial modeling and forecasting; invoicing, billing and reporting; financial processes improvement; operating and retirement audit coordination; vendor management; etc.  The VP of Finance is a member of the agency’s senior management team and must be both a hands-on worker and a strategic business leader, supervising one in-house employee and a part-time contracted controller.

Specific Responsibilities include:

Financial Processes:

• Preparing and/or reviewing financial reports, including income statements, balance sheets, reports to funding entities, tax returns, and reports for government regulatory agencies, foundations and other public and private funders.
• Overseeing all accounting, budget and audit functions, including meeting regularly with Executive staff and department heads to keep them informed and to make recommendations regarding necessary fiscal actions.
• Reviewing cash flow, including scheduling and preparing timely contract invoices and billings, managing accounts receivable and payables, and minimizing drawdowns on PEF’s operating line of credit.
• Analyzing actual and projected government and private revenues and expenditures, including comparisons of such figures against budgeted amounts, and suggesting methods of improving cash flow and net income.
• Coordinating outside auditors on all agency audits, including preparation of worksheets, analyses, and audit statements.

Strategy and Forecasting:

• Working closely with and reporting regularly to the Finance and Investment Committees of the Philadelphia Education Fund’s Board of Directors.
• Undertaking financial planning and analysis of agency programs, including relating to the sustainability of current programs and the evaluation of potential new programs.
• Analyzing the agency’s operations to determine opportunities for cost savings and operational efficiencies.
• Conferring with the Executive Director, program directors, and Board of Directors on budgeted and actual revenues and expenditures to coordinate and prioritize planning and expenditures.
• Lead cross-team meetings with the Development Team and Program Directors to onboard new contracts so as to ensure programmatic and financial compliance, and to model and forecast grants in order to monitor spending and funding gaps.
• Serving as a liaison with government and private funders on fiscal matters.
• Ensuring updates and adherence to all agency fiscal policies and procedures.

Business and Operations Management:

• Proposing solutions for enhancing and integrating finance, HR, and IT functions.
• Supporting payroll and benefits work as needed.
• Consulting with the retirement plan administrator on the coordination of PEF’s retirement program
• Managing the agency’s banking relationships.
• Ensuring all insurance policies are appropriate and up-to-date.
• Training, supervising and motivating staff to work collaboratively and produce high quality work, thereby maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of the agency’s financial operations.
• Evaluating the performance of the Finance staff
• Additional duties as assigned by the President and CEO.

Qualifications:

The ideal Vice President of Finance candidate will have the following qualifications:

• Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Accounting, or Finance; CPA designation beneficial but not required.
• Significant experience in financial statement analysis and forecasting.
• Knowledge of financial database and accounting software systems, including Quickbooks Online and Bill.com, preferred
• Significant experience in non-profit financial management in an agency with multi-source and government contract funding.
• Experience with A-133 audits.
• Ability to undertake and complete multiple tasks at the same time.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Excellent analytical and organizational skills.
• Unquestioned personal and professional integrity.
• Innovative and analytic problem-solving abilities.
• A dedicated work ethic.
• A strong desire to help improve the lives of the Philadelphia’s students.

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